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Myanmar’s readymade garment industry is currently tiny but it earned 917 million dollars in 2012, up from 770 million dollars in 2011. What’s more, exports are now projected to rise fast, following the recent lifting of sanctions that had held back the country’s textile and garment industry. A report written by co-author Maximilian Martin called ‘Creating Sustainable Apparel Value Chains’ focuses on the dilemma faced by Myanmar today.
The report provides a response in the context of a number of trends that are changing value creation in the industry, such as the rise of fast fashion, the impact of the emerging circular economy, and the rise of the Asian market. It also identifies a number of key levers that could make a disproportionately positive contribution catalyzing industry transformation in the process. These include recognizing that competitiveness and social and environmental performance are neither mutually exclusive nor a zero-sum game, chemicals are the 800-pound gorilla of worker health and safety—and redesigning of production processes allows for considerable savings, investing can be used to make critically needed upgrades to industry infrastructure and so on.
The report also emphasizes that to achieve a sustainable future for the industry, industry can and needs to move in scale. In Myanmar, investment will be key to making this shift happen. Using (impact) investing to improve manufacturing by reducing chemicals, energy and water inputs could provide the economic basis, report points out.
The Kamyshinsky Textiles, located in the Volgograd region of Russia, has been undergoing complete modernization, implemented by the regional government of Volgograd, after which the volume of processing cotton at the enterprise would increase to 1,400 tons per month, making it the largest cotton processing plant of the country.
According to a statement issued by the government of the Volgograd, the first stage of a large-scale investment project for the modernization of the Kamyshinsky textile enterprise has been implemented, under which the textile plant would have 12 rotor spinning machines which would increase productivity by 3.5 times.
Under the first stage of the modernization process of the enterprise, 12 new spinning machines were purchased, of which currently 10 are already running and 2 are in the process of being commissioned. During the next stage, the firm would acquire 400 new looms and would also open a new textiles finishing department, which would increase the production of fabric to 4 million meters per month.
China is likely to stop buying cotton for its reserves by August, that means imports in China will be ‘down rather severely’ in the next season, feels Jarral Neeper, President of Calcot in Bakersfield, California, at the National Cotton Council of America's Beltwide Cotton Conference. Neeper projected the country's cotton imports could drop 45 per cent to six million bales during the 2014-15 season, which begins August 1.
China quintupled the size of its cotton stockpile over the last two years, aiming to ensure a steady supply to its mills. The country's cotton purchases encouraged farmers around the world to boost production and kept global supplies tight. China's finance minister had said in December that the government planned to shift from stockpiling cotton to paying farmers directly as a way of encouraging production. The end of stockpiling in China will mean a lot more cotton without a home on the world market, Neeper said.
Neeper estimated that China's state reserves would hold 42.6 million bales at the end of the current season. That figure is expected to drop 30 percent in the next season as the state reserve stops buying the fiber. The China Cotton Association said that it had 5.01 million metric tons, or about 23 million bales, of cotton in its stockpiles in the year to last week. It added that plantings would decline for a third year in a row in 2014, down nearly 9 per cent to 4.2 million hectares (10 million acres).
Prices for new-crop cotton will likely be capped around 82 cents a pound because of the availability of cotton on China's domestic market, Neeper added.
www.china-cotton.org
Cambodian garment workers have been demanding higher wages for manufacturing products for Gap jeans and Nike trainers. But have been facing the brunt and even getting killed for protesting for wage hike.
Months of peaceful protests by Opposition supporters demanding new elections have posed little threat to Hun Sen, one of the world's longest-serving leaders. But when striking factory workers began to join forces with the Opposition, the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) responded swiftly with at least four workers shot dead and dozens wounded by security forces.
About 650,000 workers provide the backbone of Cambodia's multi-billion dollar garment industry -- a key source of foreign income for the impoverished Southeast Asian nation. They are demanding doubling of minimum wage to 160 dollars a month, or about 8 dollars a day. So far, the government has offered them 100 dollars a month (over Rs 6,000). Safety worries are also rife in an industry that periodically sees mass fainting episodes often blamed on poor health, bad ventilation or exposure to dangerous chemicals.
Hun Sen's critics allege that the deadly crackdown on striking workers, some of whom were throwing rocks and molotov cocktails at police, was a pretext for a raid the following day on a peaceful opposition protest in a Phnom Penh park.
The government has since indefinitely banned demonstrations and the garment workers have ended their strike. Most have returned to work while some fled back to their villages in fear.
Bangladesh’s readymade garment sector has incurred a loss of 20 million dollars due to cancellation of orders, extra-burden of air freight, delays in shipments, discount and vandalism in the wake of non-stop political unrest since December 1, 2013, says a survey conducted by Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). Over 38 export-oriented factories have reported huge business losses in the RMG sector.
All the factories faced order cancellations worth 5.35 million dollars and had to spend additional money of over 1.56 million dollars for air shipment, the survey said. The survey also said those factories also had to pay 1.87 million extra as they failed to ship the products on time. Apart from this vandalism, which occurred during the blockades, cost the exporters 2.8 million dollars while the delays in shipment cost 9.21 million during the period.
Since November 1, the country has been going through series of blockades and hartals enforced by the Opposition, breaking the supply chain of the country. As per BGMEA, since then there were 41 days of hartal and blockades, which spoiled 41 working days in this sector, leaving this sector in deeper crisis.
The Asia Apparel Expo will be held in Berlin from February 18 to 20, 2014. Berlin has come to be known as one of Europe’s key trading and business meeting capitals. This is the largest trade show in Europe representing Asian apparel companies and covers men’s, women’s and children’s wear, fabrics and textiles as well as trimmings and accessories. This is its third edition in Europe. The event brings together suppliers from Bangladesh, mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, Thailand and Vietnam.
Over 250 companies in the business of meeting demand from Europe for finished garments, contract manufacturing and private label development will be at the show. Asia Apparel Expo provides brand manufacturers, trading companies, wholesalers, multiple retailers, chain stores, department stores, agents, designers, private labels and buying offices an Asian sourcing market place in the heart of Europe. It brings the best of Asian manufacturers to the doorstep of fashion and design, connecting buyers and sellers.
Today, six Asian countries (China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India) account for 80 per cent of Asia’s apparel exports to Europe, Americas and Japan.
www.asiaapparelexpo.com/
Germany-based Karl Mayer has upgraded its RD 6/1-12 and RD 7/2-12 (EL) warp knit spacer fabric machines. Changes to both machines include: individual needle mounting for simplified needle changes and chromium-plated guide elements to protect the yarn sleys from high loads when processing monofilaments in the pile bars. Fabrics produced on the machines include 3-D upholstery fabric and textiles for shoes.
On the RD 7/2-12, Karl Mayer has reconfigured the warp beam frame to make it more compact. The beams for GB 1 and GB 2 ground guide bars are now found at the front support; guide bars GB 3 to GB 6 are attached to the girder; and guide bar GB 7 is located at the rear support. A footbridge has been added running lengthwise between warp beams GB 4 and GB 5, with additional foot beams running along the warp beam rolls on the right and left front side of the machine.
Karl Mayer has also modified the machine to simplify changing the pattern when knitting using pattern chains. A pattern drum with two separate parts now is available. Four tracks for the GB 1 to GB 4 pattern chains are located on the front of the drum, and the three pattern chains for GB 5 to GB 7 are on the rear of the drum. A chain path 1.5 meters long also is available.
www.karlmayer.de/
Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles-Spring Edition scheduled to take place in March 2014 has been postponed until 2015. Exhibitors and local buyers feel it would be more beneficial for them to concentrate on just the Autumn home textile fair in Shanghai during 2014.
However, the 2015 Spring edition is expected to go ahead as scheduled as overseas orders in China and the Asian region pick up again. The 2015 fair is planned to take place with Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics – spring edition, with the synergies of this collection providing new opportunities for exhibitors and visitors of both fairs.
Messe Frankfurt’s two other home textile fairs in China will go ahead in 2014 and will provide overseas exhibitors and buyers access to the numerous opportunities in the Asian home textile market. From March 18 to 22, Intertextile Guangzhou Hometextile China will be held concurrently with the China International Outdoor and Leisure Fair, Homedecor and Housewares China and the China International Furniture Fair (Guangzhou). From August 27 to 29, Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles – Autumn Edition will take place at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre.
Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles showcases items like bed linen, blankets and bedding, terry and toweling products and bath mats, table and kitchen linen, curtains, curtain accessories, upholstery fabrics and leather, textile wall coverings, carpets and rugs, accessories.
Rising labor costs is making China reduce cotton purchase and shift to value-added yarn from India, especially Gujarat. It’s no longer viable for China to import cotton and make yarn. Currently, Gujarat makes less than 5 per cent of yarn being produced in India. But in about four years, it is estimated to increase to over 20 per cent. In the last one-and-a-half years, yarn exports from India have already increased by 68 per cent. This has been mainly due to demand from China.
Because of the rising demand for yarn from China, over 100 new units are in the pipeline in Gujarat itself. Moreover, existing players are also upping their capacity. In the current cotton season, India is estimated to produce around 370 lakh bales out of which 28 per cent is from Gujarat. Till now, the largest cotton producing state, Gujarat was depending on southern states to spin cotton yarn. But now that may change to some extent.
For a long time, China was the hub of garment manufacturing and its goods were supplied across the world but China’s now culling at least some processes in the chain.
A recent Bloomberg report suggests, China, in order to aid its own cotton farmers by supporting cotton prices, has been buying up excess production into government stockpiles. The world’s biggest producer and user of cotton will have 12.7 million metric tons in inventory by July 31, 2014, 62 per cent of the global total and enough to make about 71 billion T-shirts. But while growers in the US and Brazil cut output, to deal with the price drops related to excess production, Chinese farmers boosted production, having been guaranteed both a minimum price and a buyer.
Even, Moody’s Investors Service has moved its outlook for the Asian steel and coal sectors to negative, highlighting the severe overcapacity problem that China is facing as it strives to resolve its production worries. China’s steel industry had a total profit of 1.58 billion yuan in 2012, a 98 per cent year-on-year drop, caused by rising iron ore prices and a weak market.
Overproduction woes continue, and have spread throughout the Chinese economy, as government interference through subsidising markets has only made the problems worse by encouraging more of the bad behaviour they wish to change. For example, by buying cotton in order to stabilise cotton prices, so as to avoid the embarrassment of having to go through a ‘cotton crisis’ in front of the world, the Chinese government only exacerbated the problem. Instead of curbing production, the policy ended up encouraging farmers to plant even more cotton. The farmers have taken advantage of a guaranteed government price by expanding their operations in the face of a guaranteed level of income and profit. Now the Chinese government has more cotton than it can know what to do with. Cotton that it must eventually put up for sale in the market, undermining the very prices it was trying to stabilise. Instead of stability, wild price swings will result, as uncertainty about government intentions will lead to overreacting.
